tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-849784733335636301.post2476206100878828603..comments2023-08-13T12:10:32.261-04:00Comments on The Window: Making the Shift, Part 1: No More ObjectivesKevin D. Washburn, Ed.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11598209275450969359noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-849784733335636301.post-45352536111674889062009-08-11T20:13:40.745-04:002009-08-11T20:13:40.745-04:00You're on to something when you say that instr...You're on to something when you say that instructional goals need a heavy dose of imagination. Imagination, as James Marshall (2000)has pointed out, is characterized by openness, tolerance for ambiguity, willingness to explore, creativity, the consideration of multiple perspectives, and groundedness. These are all the qualities that allowed the historians to succeed and the AP students to fail in the example you gave earlier.<br /><br />We need to focus clearly on the role imagination plays in the future lives of our students and design classroom environments that can nurture the imagination.<br /><br />Sumara (2002) emphasized that imagination is a critical component for achieving interpretation and insight:<br />"To imagine, then, is to create interpreted bridges between what is held in memory, what currently exists, and what is predicted about the future. From this perspective,imagining is not a special act limited to certain persons or certain situations. Rather,imagining is central to human cognition" (p. 5). Imagination is not something limited to the 'child with a big imagination'. It's more common and central than that. <br /><br />Further, your blog post suggests that imagining is central to motivation. Both for the teacher's planning and the student's learning, developing a Target Future has power to develop plans to engage students in learning. <br /><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/1711302?pg=embed&sec=" rel="nofollow">J.K. Rowling's Harvard Commencement Speech</a> goes a step beyond the cognitive and motivational. She suggests that imagination enables empathy:<br /> <br />“Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power which enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.”<br /><br />Thanks for blogging.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br /><a href="mailto:wnicker@mts.net" rel="nofollow">Warren Nickerson</a> <br /><br />Sumara, D. (2002). Why reading literature in school still matters: Imagination, interpretation, insight. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.<br /><br />Marshall, J. (2000). Research on response to literature. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D.<br />Pearson, & R. Barr, Handbook of Reading Research (Vol.3, chap. 23, pp. 381-401).<br />Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com